Existing portable multidose apparatuses or injection devices, eg. pen-type injectors, generally consists of a first end portion with an ejection outlet, e.g. a mounting for a needle assembly, a second, opposite end portion possibly having a dosing button, and an intermediate portion serving as a handle. Said portions are integrated in a common shell-type housing of non-flexible resin, preferably an injection moulded casing. The design of the casing is adapted to protect the injector from damages when being dropped on a floor or when being subjected to bending or twisting forces, as the hard casing resists the contemplated applied forces and shelters the mechanism of the injector. However, all pen-type injectors of the same brand are identical resulting in confusion which injector belongs to who when two or more injectors at the same time and for some reason are present in the same location. Further, different individuals may need functional adaptations to there specific requirements, e.g. in respect of added feature or adapted size and shape for gripping parts. PCT application WO 98/55168 is directed to a manually operated injection apparatus having an injection moulded housing with an intermediate handle portion. A soft-touch semi circular layer is firmly attached to a part of the handle portion by for example a two-shot moulding or co-injection moulding process. This means that the injection apparatus is obtainable with a permanently fixed grip of a soft-touch semi circular, in cross section, layer. However, this grip is of a standardized design and can not be adapted to a users personal requirements or needs. Further, every injection apparatus of the same brand looks alike and are hard to distinguish from each other.
It is an object of present invention to provide an element for a manually operated injection device, which is customized to the user's personal requirements and wishes.
It is an other object of present invention to provide an element for an injection device holding information concerning the owner of the device, dose and kind of medical drug to be delivered to the owner in case of emergency and other vital information.
A further object of present invention is to provide an element for an injection device in which a metering device is integrated.
These and other objects to be evident form the description below are met by the characteristics set forth in the appended claims.
Known in the art are various consumer articles, e.g. cell phones etc., marketed with a plurality of add-on parts allowing the article to be personalized or customized. Typically such add-ons only serve an aesthetical but not a functional purpose. Furthermore, faulty handling, misuse, unauthorized access or inadvertent mix-up of different individuals articles does not cause harm. In contrast, manually operated injectors may bring severe harm if not properly handled before, during and after injection. A patient identifying the wrong device is an obvious risk factor. Preparatory steps may include for example needle attachment, mixing, dose setting and deaeration of the preparation, arming of the device etc. Critical steps in the mere injection phase can be steady abutment to or penetration of the proper target site, penetration to proper depth, possibly aspiration of body fluid, delivery of full dose and withdrawal without residue. After the treatment it may be necessary to remove a contaminated needle, clean and reset the device, replace a preparation ampoule or store the device with ampoule in a refrigerator. All such steps may cause harm, e.g. by over or under dosing, destruction of tissue, injection of air, transmittal of blood borne infections or deactivation of drug. Manually operated injectors must be designed for worst-case situations including self-administration also by children, elderly and disabled persons, even when traumatized by the injection procedure itself. Optimization of a design for all possible patient and assistant groups is difficult, however. There are individual variations in hand sizes, gripping patterns, body postures and administration regimens. Patients dependent on daily administrations also have a legitimate right for consideration to individual variations in taste and preferences, e.g. for devices that need to be brought around in daily life.